Advocacy
Attendance at conferences, workshops and seminars
Elton Davids and I attended various meetings and workshops during the year.
- Cape Town NMT Forum at various times during the year. This takes some time, but is useful to monitor what is going on.
- Karin Pohl and I attended a further meeting with staff of the City of Cape Town regarding signage warning of (the presence of) cyclists. We subsequently sent a letter to the Roads department.
- Last year I did a presentation to the City of Cape Town, Cape Town Partnership and other interested parties to open Government Lane (through the Company Gardens) which was well received. I did a follow-up presentation towards the end of last year. The City Transport department supported the route up the Government Lane, but Heritage opposed it and marshalled support from politicians to oppose it. Subsequently a further study was commissioned which again recommended a cycling route up Government Lane. The local councillor, in particular was vehemently opposed to it.
- Nothing further came of the Metropolitan Transport Planning Advisory Council (MTPAC).
- Karin Pohl and I attended a meeting with the Consultants for the City of Cape Town for NMT transport for the southern region of the Peninsula in September 2009. We provided information regarding training and commuting routes.
- I attended similar meetings with the Consultants for the Northern (Jakupa), and the Central Region (Kayad), providing them with the same information, and also suggested potential new cycling routes.
Other advocacy
- I wrote an article regarding the legislative requirement of a 1.5 m safe passing distance by cars passing cyclists which was published in Mobility Magazine and subsequently reprinted in the Cape Argus on 21 June 2010.
- We wrote a letter to the Premier on 27 October 2009 regarding the opening of Government Avenue to cyclists. We only receive an automated response.
Sponsorship
PPA co-sponsored a course on Non-motorised Transport at the University of Cape Town Faculty of Engineering & the Built Environment from 31 August – 2 September 2009 convened by Dr. Marianne Vanderschuren. The course was for Continuing Professional Development for Engineers and traffic planners and helped to disseminate knowledge regarding proper design and planning for cyclists.
Recent fatalities
There were again fatalities by cyclists in the run-up to the Cycle Tour.
State of Cycling
The Cape Town CBD to Milnerton Bus and Cycle path is still under construction (significantly behind the planned schedule) and almost complete. There appears to be major issues with the budgeting of this project and it is not clear how this will affect the cycle path. We are hopeful that it will make a significant contribution to cycling commuting in Cape Town.
The latest information regarding the N1 corrider project would appear that it will not happen for many years, i.e. 2017 or later.
A bicycle and pedestrian route has been constructed from the Cape Town station to the Green Point stadium, with a traffic light across Adderley Street.
It would appear that construction has started on a bicycle route on Adderley Street. It is not clear what is planned at the top of Adderley Street and whether it will continue up Government Lane.
Conclusion
There appears to be some progress from the side of the City of Cape Town to spend money on Cycling infrastructure. Unfortunately the projects often seem to be disjointed and not provide a continuous system. A notable exception is the R27 project. We hope to see a significant increase in commuting cycling as a result of this.
Lance Burger
